Veljko Kukulj is an IT professional with over 20 years of experience. He was the last speaker in the session, Horizons of Education and Authoring.

Veljko Kukulj @ the unbound book conference – photo cc by-sa Sebastiaan ter Burg

Kukulj started his presentation with the question of “What is truth?” He explained that common emotional truth is a combination of facts and interpretations. We hear ‘truth’ every day in the media. Traditional publishers collaborate on the same truth which they publish as collaborative work. He explains that one author results in one truth, while many authors produce many truths. Subsequently, many truths exist at the same time, but how should publishers handle these multiple truths? How should these differences be handled? Kukulj provides a possible solution: allowing multiple truths and highlighting them by zooming in on the data. All of the data should be verified and if it is wrong, then it should be shown and told. When have access to lots of information, we can search and find patterns and eventually decide what a truthful statement is.

Kukulj explains that truth can be established when data is shown in small pieces because it is easier to agree on small bits of information. Technology can be used to reveal these particles of data. He explains how cultures have different interpretations of history, conflicts and wars. How can these conflicting views be made accessible?
In his presentation, Kukulj shows a project by the company Geanium about the First World War. This interactive chronological visualization represents the assassination of Franz Ferdinand which triggered the First World War. This event is shown in chronological form with in-depth data and details of the actual sequence of events that took place.

PDF of presentation available here: Publishing Truth